The United States government recently prepared a report on lost and stolen guns. Lost and stolen firearms pose a substantial threat to public safety and are an inconvenience to the gun owner. Lost or stolen guns can be transferred to others who commit crimes, and create an unregulated secondary market for firearms, including a market for those who are prohibited by law from possessing a gun. The number of firearms reported lost or stolen by private individuals in 2012 totaled more than 190,000 nationwide.
Misplacing a gun can wreak havoc on a family from unintentional injuries. People of all age groups can die from unintentional firearm injuries, particularly when they live in states with more guns. Alarmingly, a federal government study of unintentional shootings found that 8% of such shooting deaths resulted from shots fired by children under the age of six. Gun owners need a way to assure their guns are placed in a place that is known to them and safe from unauthorized access. Yet the gun should be in a place that allows the owner quick access without having to wear the gun all the time in a holster.
One method of providing a safe, known, and easily accessible place for a gun is a holder. There are many gun holders on the market. Some mount to walls, car steering wheels, under tables, and any other multitude of locations. Holders of this sort require the gun to be removed from its holster. This increases the chance of an accident because the gun is being handled by the owner, or anyone that is placing the gun in the holder. Another way to attempts are made to assure the safe placement of guns is through the use of a gun safe, however gun safes do not provide easy access to the firearm.
Explaining an example of this problem further, in a typical scenario, a gun owner arrives home at the end of a day carrying a firearm in a holster attached to his or her body. Upon arriving home, the person unclips the gun and holster from their belt, then places the holster and gun in the first place available. This is a habit that is similar to placing ones keys on the nearest counter when coming into the house but is a dangerous habit for placement of a holster and gun. Many gun owners realize the importance of keeping the gun in a safer location and will place the holster in a higher spot, such as on top of their refrigerator. However, the habit of placing a holster and gun in the nearest spot is dangerous because it places the gun in a location where it can be taken by others easily or is in a place that may be forgotten by the owner. A safer gun is one that is in a location known to its owner at all times.
Clearly, a gun owner must consciously remember to place their holster and gun in a place that is easily accessible, rememberable, and in as safe a place as possible. Doing otherwise places the gun in a position that can be dangerous to the owner and to public safety.
Information relevant to attempts to address these problems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 9,360,276 B1. However, this reference suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages: it requires mounting to a vertical surface and it requires reconfiguration for left or right handed gun owners.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need in the industry for an apparatus that provides an easy means for gun owners to clip their holster and gun. That provides a place that is the safe from unauthorized access. That provides a safe place for the holster and gun to be stored but allows for easy access by the owner. Such an apparatus will greatly minimize the dangers to families from unintentional shootings, and increase the safety to the public by preventing lost or stolen firearms.